


Time is Standing Still

by OrdinaryVegan



Series: Piper Minyard-Josten: kid au [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon, Tumblr Prompt, andreil as parents, just go with it, soft andreil, wow i didn't know i was capable of this much fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 23:06:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10055978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrdinaryVegan/pseuds/OrdinaryVegan
Summary: Andrew and Neil have a daughter, and she is an actual ray of sunshine.





	

**Author's Note:**

> prompt by anon: Can u do a one shot where andreil have a daughter and it's like her first day of school or something domestic like that pleaseeeee

Still mostly asleep, Neil rolls onto his left side, bringing himself further into Andrew's space. He snakes out a cautious hand, expecting to run into King's soft fur where he often sleeps in between them. Instead, he is met with empty space, right up until his hand accidentally brushes Andrew's ribs. This incites only a small flinch, whereas years ago, Andrew would have startled awake on high alert, reaching under his pillow for an ever-present knife. The progress makes Neil smile. 

He continues his search in the dark for his absent cats, as he has now also noticed the lack of Sir's weight at the bottom of the bed. He sits up, eyes flitting to the door that they now leave cracked open at night. It is almost completely ajar.

"Hi," comes a small voice from the far side of the room, making Neil jump slightly in surprise. 

He looks over at the small armchair in the corner to see Piper curled up with both missing cats asleep on her lap. She has dragged in her favorite navy blue blanket, a gift from Renee the previous Christmas, and made herself a rather comfortable-looking nest. 

Neil glances to the clock on the bedside table. It reads 5:47am.

"Hey, Pipes,” he croaks out. “What's up? Is everything okay?"

"Mhmm. Couldn't sleep. Too excited." That excitement is clear in her voice, but she's trying to keep quiet so the three still sleeping creatures in the room won't be disturbed. 

They discover that her efforts were in vain as a muffled, "Why would you possibly be excited for _school_?" comes from beneath the covers somewhere to Neil's left. Andrew pulls himself up into a sitting position, mirroring Neil and moving closer to him, their shoulders touching as they gaze at the little girl who has unintentionally woken them both.

" _Daaaaad_ , you know how important a good education is these days."

"Yeah okay, sure, but you're six years old. Ivy Leagues aren't going to judge your grades from kindergarten," Andrew insists. "And furthermore, it doesn't really matter, because any day now the zombie apocalypse is going to make higher education obsolete." 

Neil can't hold back his smile as the two launch into the argument they have at least once a week. She may be six years old, but she's smarter than the two of them combined. 

By the time they've once again agreed to table this argument for another time (probably tomorrow), it is 6:30 and the sun is finally shedding some light into the previously darkened room. Piper is chattering away about a book she finished last night, and Neil has a moment where he just stares at her and can't believe that she'll be starting school in less than two hours. He looks over to Andrew, who he thinks may be on the same train of thought, judging by his narrowed gaze and the slight tilt of his head.

Neil makes his way over to Piper and tosses the cats back up onto the bed, much to their disappointment. He picks her up, blanket and all, throwing her over his shoulder. She laughs, a sound that Neil will never get tired of, and looks back at Andrew with pure, unbridled delight. "Can I get ready for school now?!" 

"If you want to be ready almost two hours early, then sure," Andrew replies.

If her answering squeal is anything to go by, Neil thinks that is a yes.

\---

Precisely one hour and fifteen minutes later, the trio arrives outside of Piper's new elementary school. Her energy is a nearly tangible substance as Andrew opens the car door for her. She launches out of her seat, latching her arms around Andrew's neck. Every day, every single day, he is bewildered by how okay this is. How he doesn't feel the need to dislodge her immediately. How his skin doesn't crawl when she eventually lets go after he's set her on the ground. How he doesn't even blink when she reaches for his hand. He looks at the dark skin of her fingers wrapped around his own and silently thanks whoever may be listening that he got so lucky with this kid.

Andrew and Piper wait as Neil retrieves her Ninja Turtle backpack from the trunk. He comes around to their side of the car, and they begin the walk to the front doors together.

"You remember the number one rule?" Andrew asks.

"Of course! If anyone is mean to me, I should punch them in the face," Piper says, proudly.

Andrew looks to his left to see that Neil has frozen, jaw hanging slightly open. A few seconds pass in silence...and then a few more. 

Until finally, Piper bursts out laughing, pointing at Neil and exclaiming, "You should see your face!" She turns around to give Andrew a triumphant high-five while Neil glares at the two of them. Always co-conspirators. 

Neil turns to continue their walk to the door. Piper is still doubled-over laughing, so Andrew tugs on one of her pigtails to get her moving again. "Let's go, Pipes. Your dad has enough issues as it is. We don't need to add your being late on the first day to that already massive list."

She grabs his hand again as they follow after Neil, and Andrew doesn’t even try to stop the warmth that spreads through his chest.

Neil holds the door for the two of them, and they make their way to the small check-in table outside of the front office. A grandmotherly woman wearing bright blue glasses sits behind the desk and asks Piper for her name.

"Piper Minyard-Josten," she answers, still barely containing her excitement. She's practically vibrating with energy, ready to take off toward her classroom the second she gets the go-ahead.

Ten minutes later, they are standing outside of her homeroom, slightly away from the crowd of other parents bidding their children goodbye. Andrew watches as Neil bends down to Piper's eye level.

"Well. Are you ready?" He asks her. Which is really a silly question. 

"Uh-huh!" She replies, nodding her head so fast Andrew thinks she might give herself whiplash. 

Neil looks at her like he would burn the world to the ground just to see her smile. Andrew knows the feeling.

"Okay, then. We'll be here straight after practice to pick you up," he pauses like he's looking for something else to say.

"Okay," she says. Then she leans forward and hooks her arms tight around Neil's neck. He exhales and returns her embrace with everything he has. 

Piper's teacher has now made her way into the hallway and begins to usher her new students into the classroom. Neil still hasn't let go, so Piper holds her hand up and Andrew gives her a fist bump over Neil's shoulder. 

"Love you, Pipes," Andrew says as he considers the best way to extract her from Neil's arms. 

"Love you too, Dad," she says. "And you," this time directed at Neil. He laughs and returns her sentiment, but Andrew has stopped listening in favor of sizing up the teacher who seems to be eying them like she really wishes Piper would come inside already. Andrew tugs on Neil's hair, and he finally relents. The pair steps back and watches Piper walk over to the teacher, throwing one last wave at them before disappearing into her new classroom.

Neil lets out a long breath, whispers, "Fuck," and looks at Andrew. Andrew grunts his agreement and jerks his head toward the exit. Neil nods, and they begin their trek out of the school and back to the car. 

"Did that really just happen?" Neil asks when they're back on the road.

"You mean did we really just drop off our six year old daughter at her first day of school? Yes. It did," Andrew states.

"Do you ever think about how we got here?" 

"My my, someone is feeling existential."

"No, I mean it. Sometimes, I can't believe this is real. You. Piper. The cats. Any of it."

Andrew stops at a red light and looks away from the road to find Neil staring at him, his blue eyes taking on a slightly pleading appearance. 

Andrew meets his gaze, asking a question they've long since stopped verbalizing. Neil nods, and Andrew reaches across the console to take his hand. He stares at their intertwined fingers for a moment before squeezing gently.

"We are not a pipe dream," Andrew says.

And Neil stares up at Andrew with the same look in his eyes from earlier, like he would burn the world to the ground for him.

Andrew knows the feeling.

**Author's Note:**

> guys...guess why her name is Piper. go ahead. guess.
> 
> thank you ever so much for reading! i appreciate each and every single one of you incredible creatures. title is from "10,000 Emerald Pools" by BØRNS.
> 
> come scream with me on tumblr @theordinaryvegan


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